Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000)

Beaver Island contained seven major interior lakes and several minor ones. Many of them were accompanied by marshes, bogs or drainage basins so the most direct route to them might not have always been the easiest. The major bodies of water from north to south were Font Lake, Round Lake, Barney’s Lake, Egg Lake, Fox Lake, Greene’s Lake and Lake Geneserath. Three of them are shown in the series of photographs below.

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Barney’s Lake

We found Barney’s Lake on the norther end of the island, on its western side. The road on the lake’s eastern flank cut through a nature preserve that was formerly Barney O’Donnell’s orchard, which is where we took this photograph. It would be a perfect setting for quiet canoeing and fishing, and apparently it served both of those purposes. (map)

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Fox Lake

Fox Lake formed in Beaver Island’s middle interior. There was a road and public access. A large bog drained towards the southeast. (map)

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Font Lake

Font Lake was one of the largest bodies of water on Beaver Island. It was also one of the most popular, being just a short distance west of St. James at the northern tip. This unnamed island in the photograph perched upon Font Lake, and Font Lake rested on Beaver Island, and Beaver Island sat on Lake Michigan. So what we have here is an example of the rare “Island on an Island” phenomenon. (map)

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Readers who want to see more about Beaver Island can check my Beaver Island Index page.